I don't recall ever seeing one of these weather watches before:

[catbyte]

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
1250 PM EST FRI JAN 3 2014

MIZ037>040-043>046-050-051-056-057-040200-
/O.NEW.KGRR.WC.A.0001.140106T0600Z-140107T1800Z/
MASON-LAKE-OSCEOLA-CLARE-OCEANA-NEWAYGO-MECOSTA-ISABELLA-MUSKEGON-
MONTCALM-OTTAWA-KENT-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LUDINGTON...BALDWIN...REED CITY...
CLARE...HART...FREMONT...BIG RAPIDS...MOUNT PLEASANT...MUSKEGON...
GREENVILLE...JENISON...GRAND RAPIDS
1250 PM EST FRI JAN 3 2014

...WIND CHILL WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH
TUESDAY AFTERNOON...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND RAPIDS HAS ISSUED A WIND
CHILL WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM LATE SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH
TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

HAZARDOUS WEATHER...

* WIND CHILLS BETWEEN 20 AND 30 BELOW POSSIBLE STARTING MONDAY MORNING.

* POOR VISIBILITY IN BLOWING SNOW POSSIBLE MONDAY NEAR THE LAKESHORE.

IMPACTS...

* UNSAFE TO BE OUTDOORS MONDAY AND TUESDAY FOR PROLONGED PERIODS
OF TIME.

* DANGEROUS TRAVEL POSSIBLE NEAR THE LAKESHORE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

* THE COMBINATION OF VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS MAY CREATE
DANGEROUSLY LOW WIND CHILL VALUES.

* WEATHER PREPAREDNESS INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON LINE AT
WWW.READY.GOV/WINTER AND HTTP://GO.USA.GOV/5OG.
-------------------------------------

Lake Michigan usually moderates our temperatures so we stay warmer than surrounding areas. I live about 30 miles east of Lake Michigan. Local weathercasters said the temperatures haven't been this cold "in decades." Yikes.

Pssst, Donald Trump: more proof that global warming is a hoax?

[cali]

1. Looks pretty standard to me- at least for Northern Vermont

[chillfactor]

4. the person who made the post actually lives there....

and has never seen this wicked a forecast BEFORE.....since you do not I suggest you keep your "standards" yourself...

[Ms. Toad]

16. Your response seems a bit snarky

to a fairly reasonable observation.

[HangOnKids]

20. What a charmer!

You might want to spend more time cuddling with your dog.

[Raine1967]

51. Welcome to DU...

I Can see you make friends easily...

[catbyte]

11. You're obviously unfamiliar with how the Great Lakes effect weather to areas downwind from them.

The lakes, when they're not frozen over, of course, manage to moderate temperatures to where a watch like this is practically unheard of. That doesn't happen in Maine. It is just very unusual for these here parts.

[Common Sense Party]

2. Pretty soon we're going to see a weathercast like this one:

[RebelOne]

5. Considering the crazy weather we have had all over the world

in the past few years, none of that surprises me.

[2naSalit]

10. No Doubt!

Funny and not!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

21. Lol

[WilliamPitt]

3. We call this "Syracuse."

[pangaia]

27. I'm near Rochester.

And you guys get it worse than we do.

[Siwsan]

6. Flint has been seeing these, almost non-stop, for the last two weeks

We don't get the lake effect snows but there have been constant weather advisories, alerts, watches and warnings for rain, ice, sleet, wind chills and snow.

And, they just issued another "watch" for snow. I'm just hoping we don't get hammered, Sunday night, because I start back up at work on Monday and I really don't have any more strength reserves for digging out of more than a few inches of snow.

[catbyte]

12. It's been a wicked winter so far, but much less for us than your side of the state.

At least in Grand Rapids. Allegan & Barry Counties were slammed by that big ice storm and many were without power for days. My best friend lost power for almost 8 days. They live on the Allegan/Barry County border. We only lost power for a couple of hours. We also missed out on the last big storm which fed that Nor'easter. I thought I heard there's the potential for another storm that we might catch the tail end of late this weekend. Oh, goody.

[Siwsan]

13. I was without power for 6 days, due to the ice storm

The winds blew the generator fumes back into my house - resulting in a "mild" case of carbon monoxide exposure, from which I'm still recovering, not to mention a newly developed respiratory infection. Which explains why my energy reserves are a bit low.

So far they are saying we might get 4 inches by 4pm on Sunday, but the storm will run all night.

[sufrommich]

14. Clickondetroit weather guy is predicting

6 to 10 inches through Sunday in the Detroit area on top of the 6 we just got.

[Siwsan]

15. So far, the forecast has Flint getting less snow than Detroit

The heaviest snowfall is predicted from Howell, south. But they still aren't really sure what will happen, since they can't quite pin down this storm's track, yet. I'll just keep a weather eye out for that dreaded word "Warning".

Fortunately, the snow we got this week was pretty light and fluffy. One up side of the bitter cold weather, I guess.

[catbyte]

37. They were predicting 2-4" for us, now it's jumped to 6-12" & our Advisory upgraded to a

Winter Storm Warning. Ugh. Are you feeling better, Siwsan? How scary! Please take care.

[Siwsan]

48. I'm watching the first field of snow pass us, to the west.

I just went out to make sure my little snow blower will start. We're in the 7 to 12" forecast range, but even that prediction keeps fluctuating. Fortunately, never above 12". The good news should be, since the majority of the snow fall is supposed to fall before 10pm, tomorrow, the road commission can be out in force to keep the roads somewhat under control. I live very close to work, so if I can get out of the subdivision to the main road, I'll be ok.

I'm back to about 85%. My taste buds haven't recovered, yet. My sister, who has been through numerous rounds of chemo, said that what I was experiencing sounded very familiar. Lethargy, lack of appetite, foggy brain. The only thing I lacked was nausea.

[catbyte]

49. Wow, Siwsan. Were you alone or were others poisoned too? I really hope you're back to

100% very soon. Please take care!

[Siwsan]

50. My brother spent one night in the house

He was the one who realized what was going on. I thought I was getting woozy from the gas fumes. The generator was sitting in the outside doorway of an open screened in porch with a big box fan directing the fumes even further out. But then the wind shifted and blew everything back onto the porch and through the outer wall of the house and 40+ year old windows. So, we dragged it outside, to the limit of the cord, and sealed off the porch.

My saving grace was having to go out and buy gasoline and pick up more firewood, every so often, so I was getting some fresh air. And, when I wasn't having to tend to feeding the fireplace or generator, I was flat out on the couch, below the level of the densest fumes. When we brought in an alarm, it was detecting at about the 5' level. Another day and things might not have turned out so well.

All of the men assured me the generator wouldn't be a problem, where it was located. See what I get when I listen to 'all the men'?? HAHA. My new generator is going to be installed OUTSIDE the house.

[cui bono]

7. Meanwhile, we're having unusually warm weather on the west coast in CA. n/t

[riverwalker]

8. Sunday's forecast

for International Falls, Minnesota

High of -20F, low of -29F

http://www.intellicast.com/Local/Weather.aspx?location=USMN0376

[emmadoggy]

23. I feel your pain!

See my post below - our forecast is pretty close to yours (I'm in NE Iowa). High of -17 Monday with wind chills of -50 to -60. Should be at or close to new records for our area (might not be for yours though).

It's pretty brutal. Stay warm and safe!

[Blue_Tires]

9. I had a college professor once

who when bored during some of his lectures, would recount the miserable years he spent in North Dakota while in the Air Force...

He would have called your weather advisory "Monday"

[pangaia]

28. :>))))))))))))))))))))))

[CatholicEdHead]

41. True by ND standards

Though many North Dakotans are hunkering down for the next couple of days with lows -30 to -40 and windchills down to -60. There were runs at Bismarck area grocery stores stocking up like a normal blizzard as it will pass in a couple days and back to business as usual.

[Greybnk48]

17. Nothing unusual in Wisconsin, just south of Green Bay.

The Packers will be playing one of their coldest games in history on Sunday against the 49'ers. I hope everyone comes out of it with all their fingers and toes (and ears and noses)!!

[pangaia]

29. I read the coldest won't hit until late Sunday night.

Now, I was hoping it would hit right during the game so I could watch it here in the comfort of my upstate NY Condo where it's a balmy 15 F, or so. and know I was watching perhaps the coldest game in NFL history.,,colder even than the Ice Bowl.

But then I thought better of it, considering all you guys at the game.
GO PACK !!!!!!

[emmadoggy]

18. Here in my neck of the woods, our forcast for

Monday is a HIGH of -15 and wind chills of -50 to -60.

I can hardly wait.

[catbyte]

19. Oh, man. That's Antarctica weather. Stay INSIDE if you can! I predict an

epidemic of dead batteries. Wow.

[emmadoggy]

22. Yeah, it's not good.

It's actually worse now - they have LOWERED the high temp. to -17 now. These are the coldest temps this area has seen since 1994. The Governor of MN (Dayton) has declared no school for the entire state of MN on Monday (that also happened in 1994). We are about 20 miles south of the MN border in Iowa and no such declaration from our governor (I don't expect that to happen). However, it is highly unlikely that we will have school on Monday. I would imagine that almost all of the schools in this area will be closed. Not only because it's dangerous to be out transporting kids, dangerous for kids to be out waiting for the bus etc. but the biggest factor is that the buses simply won't start. We had a 2 hour late start yesterday because the buses wouldn't start and it was "only" around -5 to -10 with wind chills in the -15 to -20 range.

I work in the school, so we will all be hunkered down at home. (Hubby doesn't work on Mondays).

Think warm thoughts for us!!

[catbyte]

31. We just got our Winter Weather Advisory upgraded to a Winter Storm

Warning for 6 to 12" of snow tonight & tomorrow. This morning they were predicting 2 to 4. Whoops! The storm must have tracked further north than they thought. At least I don't have to go anywhere until Monday. Quite windy now & snow is really coming down. At least it's the light, fluffy stuff that although blows around & drifts, doesn't bring down powerlines.

Take care!

[emmadoggy]

47. Yucky weather to be sure!

At least the fluffy stuff is a little easier to move and shovel. (small consolation!)

Stay safe and warm!

[catbyte]

33. They may close schools here too if wind chill reaches -30. My university almost

NEVER closes, so I am sure I will be slogging around in it even if everyone else shuts down, ugh. So many students in the Grand Rapids Public Schools walk to school that it might be too dangerous, but I'm sure we will be open Stay cozy!

[Greybnk48]

25. You must be near me...Minnesota?

Stay safe

[catbyte]

34. Michigan

The lake usually keeps us at least 10-15F warmer than areas outside of the lake's influence, but it's going to be even too cold for good old Lake Michigan to help. Plus they are now predicting 6-12" of snow instead of the 2-4" they thought this morning. Winter is definitely here.

[emmadoggy]

46. I'm in the far NE corner of Iowa.

Right next to both MN and WI.

Warm fuzzies to you too!

[bluedigger]

24. There doesn't seem to be much information coming out of Canada.

Or have they just closed for the season?

[pangaia]

30. Not much happens in Canada to get excited about...

They're sane.

[bluedigger]

38. Mostly.

Vince Weiguang Li, 43, repeatedly stabbed Tim McLean on a Canadian Greyhound bus as the 22-year-old slept in the seat next to him, before cutting off his head, removing his internal organs, pocketing his nose, tongue and an ear, and taunting police and bystanders with the severed head.
The paranoid schizophrenic was not to be criminally responsible for the 2008 murder and is now eligible for day trips out of the mental health facility where he has been treated.
In an interview with Chris Summerville, head of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, Li spoke for the first time saying that he began hearing "the voice of God" in 2004.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/canada/9283963/Canada-cannibal-says-he-believed-victim-was-an-alien.html

[pangaia]

52. Cripes ! Oh, just an anectdotal incidence.

Nothing to worry about..

[catbyte]

32. Not really. We don't get these because Lake Michigan keeps us warmer

than areas outside the lake's influence. I really don't recall ever seeing this for our area. We are currently getting 6-12" of snow on top of it.

[William769]

36. Did you look it up at the Library?

[Agschmid]

45. Awkward...

[catbyte]

39. Lake water retains heat more efficiently than dry land, so that when air passes

over the lake it warms the air. This process is also responsible for Lake Effect snow. When the wind is right, we can get 10" of snow where just 20-30 miles east of us will have bright sun. It's weird!

[catbyte]

43. We are about 30 miles east, but Lake Michigan's influence on the weather can reach

50 or more miles, depending on wind speed & direction. We do get much less snow than areas within 10 miles or so from the lake, but do benefit from it moderating our temps. It is a strange phenomenon!

[uppityperson]

40. Gee, don't you know about Lake Michigan? 5551.56 might help